FACT strives to fill gaps in county transit network

A fairly young non-profit that goes by the acronym FACT is positioning itself as the countywide version of Travelocity or Priceline for specialized transportation services.

When a senior citizen needs a ride to the hospital for a doctor’s appointment, FACT wants to be the answer to the question “Who do you call?”

In San Diego County there are scores of small non-profit van and shuttle services that connect thousands of elderly, disabled and low-income residents with doctors, supermarkets and assistance agencies. They’re operated by churches and synagogues, communities, neighborhoods, ethnic groups, public agencies, non-profits, volunteers and tribes.

FACT -- short for Full Access & Coordinated Transportation Inc. -- doesn’t want to compete with these services, says its executive director Arun Prem. FACT wants to be the broker between the services and the people who need them.

“We don’t want to duplicate or displace these services,” said Prem. “We simply want to fill the gap.”

FACT is an evolving agency founded in 2005 by a small group of community activists mostly involved in transit services or elderly-disabled care programs who saw some big gaps in the public transit network that needed filling.

For a while, with the aid of a TransNet grant, FACT provided public transit for Ramona after the North County Transit District cut back on bus service. When NCTD launched its FLEX bus service late last year, restoring transit services to Ramona, FACT moved on.

For San Diego Association of Governments, FACT operates STRIDE (http://www.stridesd.org/), a free database website that connects seniors and the disabled with specialized transportation since 2001.

On March 17, FACT will take the brokerage concept to a more focused level with a one-year pilot program in Escondido, Rancho Bernardo and Poway aimed at senior citizens looking for a lift. (Residents over 60 can use the STRIDE website or call toll free 888-924-3228.)

Prem likes the airline ticket brokerage analogy for what he’s trying to accomplish – connecting passengers with open seats – but he says there are some differences. “We are providing people with information referrals: These are the services that can help you and this is what they cost,” he said.

And FACT is a non-profit. Very non-profit.

“Our main advantage is that we can be the one point of contact for all mobility services,” he said.

FACT operates off its own database of more than 150 organizations that provide specialized transportation services with new ones being added all the time. “As people get to know us, they are coming to us with their information,” he said.

If the Escondido-Poway project proves successful, Prem would like to expand the ride brokerage service countywide. Which, of course, takes more money. Right now, FACT consists of Prem, an administrative assistant, a full-time grant writer and a part-time mobility coordinator on a mid-six figure budget.

In some instances there is grant money that seems waiting for Prem to call. One $30 million grant program links funds to programs just like FACT, to provide transit services for veterans and active military and their families.

Prem calls San Diego the perfect location for such an operation. If only he can raise a matching 20 percent. He calls it a “chicken or egg situation.” Should FACT design a $2 million program and hope that it can raise $400,000 to match? Or should it scale back the dreams to a six-figure project that he knows can be matched?

Prem says he has until April 19 to figure that one out and he’s working with SANDAG on strategy. He’s also talking with an unnamed foundation about securing a grant for the matching funds

In his two years here after arriving from a similar organization in Los Angeles, Prem has not been able to get FACT off what he calls the “grant treadmill” – applying over and over for annual grants to keep the organization afloat.

But he sees signs of progress: For one, he no longer has to explain FACT to other transit groups. And the number of monthly ride inquiries has doubled. And last year, when he applied for a similar grant, knowing it would be rejected, a federal agency actually called him back for a “debriefing” on suggestions he made on his application.

“Very encouraging, really,” he said.

“I knew what to expect when I arrived here,” he added. “I’m just finding it a little harder than I imagined.”